http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have discovered that spring-fruiting fungi, including the morel and St George`s mushroom are fruiting nearly three weeks earlier than they did 50 years ago. http://www.physorg.com/news179599392.html Biology Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:00:04 EST news179599392 (PhysOrg.com) -- A team of scientists from the Netherlands, including Gert Kema of Plant Research International, published an article in the Lancet Infectious Diseases about the relationship between fungicide use in agriculture and azole resistance. In the article the scientists argue that the intensive use of fungicides may contribute to resistance against pharmaceuticals in humans with life-threatening lung infections caused by the Aspergillus fungus. It is the first time that a probable relationship between fungicide use in agriculture and human health is demonstrated. http://www.physorg.com/news178915899.html Medicine & Health Tue, 01 Dec 2009 18:52:18 EST news178915899 Amphibians like frogs and toads have existed for 360 million years and survived when the dinosaurs didn't, but a new aquatic fungus is threatening to make many of them extinct, according to an article in the November issue of Microbiology Today. http://www.physorg.com/news178198770.html Biology Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:40:13 EST news178198770 (PhysOrg.com) -- Roughly 15,000 years ago, at the end of the last ice age, North America's vast assemblage of large animals -- including such iconic creatures as mammoths, mastodons, camels, horses, ground sloths and giant beavers -- began their precipitous slide to extinction. http://www.physorg.com/news177864298.html Space & Earth Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:45:49 EST news177864298 Most countries throughout the world participate in the $40-million-per-year culinary trade of frog legs in some way, with 75 percent of frog legs consumed in France, Belgium and the United States. Scientists at the Smithsonian Institution and colleagues have found that this trade is a potential carrier of pathogens deadly to amphibians. The team's findings are published in the scientific journal Frontiers in Ecology, Thursday, Nov. 19. http://www.physorg.com/news177858095.html Biology Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:20:02 EST news177858095 A team of researchers at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute Life Sciences and Bioengineering Center at Gateway Park has developed a new model system to study fungal infections. The system can be a powerful tool for screening potential drug targets for conditions like thrush, athlete's foot and vaginal yeast infections, which affect millions of people each year but are difficult to treat with existing medications. Using the new model, the researchers also identified a gene that may be a promising target for a new anti-fungal drug. http://www.physorg.com/news177851974.html Biology Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:21:01 EST news177851974 (PhysOrg.com) -- CSIRO researchers have identified wheat and barley lines resistant to Crown Rot - a disease that costs Australian wheat and barley farmers $79 million in lost yield every year. http://www.physorg.com/news175943197.html Biology Wed, 28 Oct 2009 10:52:17 EST news175943197 (PhysOrg.com) -- Doppler technology -- the very same technology used by meteorologists to track thunderstorms -- is being used by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists to better understand the rate at which fescue toxicosis restricts blood flow in cattle. http://www.physorg.com/news175356918.html Biology Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:40:02 EST news175356918 (PhysOrg.com) -- Tomato plants under attack from the Botrytis fungus give off an aromatic substance that can be measured in greenhouses. This is the result of research performed by Roel Jansen with which he obtained his doctoral degree at Wageningen University on Friday 9 October. Working within a team of scientists from Wageningen and Germany, Jansen has opened the door to a new way of preventing and managing disease and plague problems in greenhouse horticulture. http://www.physorg.com/news175238915.html Biology Tue, 20 Oct 2009 06:40:01 EST news175238915 A workshop at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama has dramatically improved the ability of conservationists and regulatory agencies to monitor the spread of chytridiomycosis -one of the deadliest frog diseases on Earth. http://www.physorg.com/news175180017.html Biology Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:20:02 EST news175180017 (PhysOrg.com) -- Six new inbred maize lines with resistance to aflatoxin contamination have now been registered in the United States by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS). ARS plant pathologist Robert Brown and colleague Abebe Menkir, with the Ibadan, Nigeria-based International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, developed the lines. http://www.physorg.com/news174894984.html Biology Fri, 16 Oct 2009 08:20:01 EST news174894984 (PhysOrg.com) -- Sweet potatoes are a seasonal staple that earn U.S. producers some $370 million every year. Now Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists have found traits in sweet potatoes that someday may make the vegetable as appreciated in the lab as it is in the kitchen. http://www.physorg.com/news174822589.html Biology Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:10:04 EST news174822589 (PhysOrg.com) -- The means to fully understand and exploit a type of fungus that could form the basis of a new class of antibiotics has been developed by researchers at the University of Bristol. With certain strains of bacteria becoming resistant to existing drugs, there is a growing need to find new sources of antibiotics. http://www.physorg.com/news174720553.html Biology Wed, 14 Oct 2009 06:29:55 EST news174720553 Fungi travelled to Madagascar in the intestines of termites. Fungus serves as a source of food and helps in cellulose conversion. http://www.physorg.com/news174241876.html Biology Thu, 08 Oct 2009 17:31:49 EST news174241876 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists beleive extinct fungus species capitalised on a world-wide disaster and thrived on early Earth. http://www.physorg.com/news173634124.html Space & Earth Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:43:32 EST news173634124 The number and diversity of male partners a queen honeybee has could help to protect her children from disease, say University of Leeds scientists, who are investigating possible causes of the widespread increase in bee deaths seen around the world. http://www.physorg.com/news172139164.html Biology Mon, 14 Sep 2009 09:40:03 EST news172139164 At the 27th "Osnabrücker Baumpflegetagen," one of Germany`s most important annual conferences on all aspects of forest husbandry, Empa researcher Francis Schwarze`s "biotech violin" dared to go head to head in a blind test against a stradivarius -- and won. A brilliant outcome for the Empa violin, which is made of wood treated with fungus, against the instrument made by the great master himself in 1711. http://www.physorg.com/news172135859.html Other Sciences Mon, 14 Sep 2009 08:31:21 EST news172135859 Most natural rubber comes from rubber trees in Southeast Asia, but this source is now under threat from a fungus. Researchers have optimized the Russian dandelion to make it suitable for large-scale rubber production. http://www.physorg.com/news171807909.html Biology Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:00:02 EST news171807909 (PhysOrg.com) -- It`s surprising how much havoc the tiny termite can wreak. Each year infestations of these insects cause an estimated $30 billion in damage to buildings and crops nationwide. Historically, homeowners and plantation farmers have resorted to using harmful chemical pesticides to kill off the pests, but new research out of Northeastern University may soon change that. http://www.physorg.com/news170618505.html Biology Thu, 27 Aug 2009 20:10:04 EST news170618505 The complete asexuality of a widespread fungus-gardening ant, the only ant species in the world known to have dispensed with males entirely, has been confirmed by a team of Texas and Brazilian researchers. http://www.physorg.com/news170493929.html Biology Wed, 26 Aug 2009 08:26:13 EST news170493929 A study in the September issue of The American Naturalist describes new details about a fungal parasite that coerces ants into dying in just the right spot -- one that is ideal for the fungus to grow and reproduce. The study, led David P. Hughes of Harvard University, shows just how precisely the fungus manipulates the behavior of its hapless hosts. http://www.physorg.com/news169223504.html Biology Tue, 11 Aug 2009 15:32:14 EST news169223504 A fungus that caused the infamous 1840s Irish potato famine has hit this summer's commercial and homegrown tomato crop in 13 states, putting farmers and agricultural experts on edge. http://www.physorg.com/news167937685.html Biology Mon, 27 Jul 2009 20:30:01 EST news167937685 An FDA-approved drug used for preventing recurrence of breast cancer shows promise in fighting life-threatening fungal infections common in immune-compromised patients, such as infants born prematurely and patients with cancer. Some scientists suspected that tamoxifen has antifungal properties; now new research from the University of Rochester Medical Center shows that it actually kills fungus cells and stops them from causing disease. http://www.physorg.com/news167310214.html Medicine & Health Mon, 20 Jul 2009 12:03:56 EST news167310214 The University of Alberta now has a permanent connection to the agricultural life of millions of people in a vast region of Brazil. A newly discovered fungus that helps plants grow in dry soil has been named in honour of the U of A for its help with the research. http://www.physorg.com/news166703646.html Biology Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:34:22 EST news166703646 There are hundreds of choices when picking a crabapple tree from the nursery, but a Purdue University expert says only a handful are resistant to a widespread fungus or other serious diseases. http://www.physorg.com/news165158760.html Biology Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:40:01 EST news165158760 The mysterious disease that has killed more than 90 percent of wintering bats in some caves and mines from Vermont to Virginia during the last three years has raised numerous questions about the nature of the disease and how to control it. http://www.physorg.com/news163250459.html Biology Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:21:24 EST news163250459 Texas officials are considering closing the state's caves out of fear that a deadly fungus associated with the growing number of bat deaths in the Northeastern United States may spread to this part of the country. http://www.physorg.com/news163171928.html Biology Tue, 02 Jun 2009 14:32:43 EST news163171928 Partner switching between fungus farming ants and their fungal clones during nest establishment may contribute to the stability of this long-term mutualistic relationship. http://www.physorg.com/news163076638.html Biology Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:04:22 EST news163076638 An international research collaboration coordinated by UCD (University College Dublin) researchers and involving scientists at 21 institutes including the genome sequencing centres in the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, UK and the Broad Institute at MIT and Harvard, USA have defined six new genome sequences in the Candida fungus family and identified genetic differences in species that cause disease. http://www.physorg.com/news162454480.html Biology Mon, 25 May 2009 07:17:23 EST news162454480 (AP) -- Researchers are heading to Central America to develop ways to fight a fungus blamed for the extinction of dozens of frog and amphibian species. http://www.physorg.com/news161272070.html Biology Mon, 11 May 2009 14:48:20 EST news161272070